White Cat by Holly Black

White Cat by Holly Black
The Curse Workers, book #1

Next Book in series: Red Glove
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Hardcover: 310 Pages
Age Group: Young Adult (14+)
Buy: Amazon
Source: Library
Challenge: Support Your Local Library
Overall: 

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories. 

 (Summary from Goodreads.)

First Paragraph: I wake up barefoot, standing on cold slate tiles. Looking dizzily down. I suck in a break of icy air. 

White Cat was not what I expected. I had heard some things about it, but I don't think that I fully knew what I was getting myself into with this book. I picked this book up because I kept seeing it everywhere. I couldn't find a bad review. 

I didn't know that it was told in the point-of-view of a male! Ha ha! I probably should of read more on it, but I'm kind of glad I didn't because I'm afraid it may have taken me longer to finally pick it up and start reading it. I'm weird like that. =/ But I think with all the awesome books with male points-of-view I'm reading lately, I'll have to pick up more. 

It took me a few minutes to get into this, but the beginning was hilarious! It opens with Cassel, the main character, standing on top of a roof in only his boxers, dreaming that he was chasing a white cat who stole his tongue! 

I loved Cassel. Yes, he annoyed me at times, which I usually find about a lot of main characters I read about. But he was really witty and  a nice guy. Though he kind confusing at times because of what happens to him without his knowledge throughout the book. 

I didn't really bond with any of the other characters, though. But I did like them. All of the characters have stayed with me and I think I will always remember them when someone brings up the book, but Cassel was my absolute favorite. 

The world Black created was amazing. She hit the high points in originality here. I haven't read a YA book like it! Nor have I heard of any. Mobsters/conmen meets the magical world! I really love that the world knows about the curse workers. Even though most people are against them and sometimes its dangerous to be a curse worker. 

Something else I really loved about this book was that I never really knew what was coming next. I kept trying to guess, but was always hit with something completely different and jaw-dropping. 

The writing for this novel flows very well and I could easily read through a lot of pages without realizing, which you will hear in every review that I write that has that type of writing in the book because it is one of my favorite things and I always like to mention it. I was always able to picture the world and characters and what was going on. Sometimes I got so into it I thought I was watching a movie. 

Overall, I can't really find anything I didn't like about this book. Other than the fact that at times it confused me because of the memory work that a certain memory worker did. Not going to name any names! It would be a spoiler. I am now VERY excited for Red Glove and can't wait for it's release date on the 5th of April. 

Cover:

I really love the cover. It's not one of my absolute favorite covers, but it is very gorgeous and mysterious. I love the dark feeling of it and the white cat on the front of it. The cat really pops on the cover. 
Cover Art: Jacket design by Russell Gordon and Michael McCartney. Jacket photograph by Micheal Frost. 
I recommend this to: Anyone who would like a new, refreshing story to read. It's mobster families with magic! 
Other books by this author: The Modern Faerie Tales, The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Rating Breakdown: 

Plot:20/20

Characters: 20/20

Creativity: 20/20

Writing: 20/20

Ending: 20/20

Overall: 100/100 =